Referees were thrust back into the spotlight after a tackle that ‘could have finished Stephen Ireland’s career’ went unpunished - and Sunderland’s Wes Brown was sent off in a case of mistaken identity.

Arsene Wenger will step up his search for holding midfielders in the wake of the defensive debacle against Monaco — but the club fear that they will be unable to prise Christoph Kramer from Leverkusen.

Premier League clubs are set to receive an additional £180million bonus in the next few months on the back of their incredible £5.1billion TV deal with the upcoming renewal of the league’s sponsorship deal.

Brendan Rodgers hailed Mario Balotelli at the end of his best week at Liverpool after playing a key role in Adam Lallana scoring the winner at Crystal Palace to take Liverpool into the FA Cup quarter final.

In the village of Ricaurte, in northern Ecuador, close to the Colombian border, the Valencia family will this morning be crowding into the family farmhouse. "There's loads of them," says Enner Valencia.